Seven Must-See Art Exhibitions This Third Friday in Downtown Phoenix

Be it a ​First Friday or a Third Friday -- we're just excited about having an excuse (not that we need one) to see some great art exhibitions.

Some are opening tonight Downtown, others have opened this month throughout metro Phoenix. But you better believe that we're making the loop and stopping by these seven.

7. Sarah Hurwitz's "Everything I have ever wanted to own" @ Eye Lounge
For three years, Sarah Hurwitz has filled Eye Lounge, 419 East Roosevelt Street, with everything we have ever wanted to own. The local artist's paintings and mixed-media installations have turned the gallery into an interactive meat shop, a science lab, a jungle, and a gem show, and with her last exhibition as a member of the gallery she'll make us drool all over again.

"Everything I have ever wanted to own" is a collection of illustrations of items coveted by the Phoenix-based artist that will open on Friday, February 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. and be on view through Art Detour 25, Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3. Hurwitz will be on hand to discuss the things she'd like to own, including lawn gnomes, wish bones, parrots, and skeleton keys.

Combine Studios

6. Art + Science=Innovation @ Combine Studios
Student work from Maricopa Community Colleges will be on view tonight at Combine Studios. According to gallery staff, "Science is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, like "Art", but is such a broad topic that each person can have a unique interpretation of what it means to them personally. This exhibit provides visual representations of how students view science in their own lives." The gallery will be open from 6 to 9 p.m.

"To grow as an artist and learn how to paint, I would flip through documentary books on Turner, Velasquez, and Gainsborough until I encountered paintings so immensely beautiful that I could not turn the page," the artist writes. "I would not turn the page for several days. I left books open on my bed, the floor, the desk, any surface around to display the paintings that I "reverse engineered" to discover the secrets of traditional technique in oil painting. I felt like my heart lived in those great paintings." Modified Arts will be open from 6 to 11 p.m.

"CHANGING LANES" is Tieken's latest series of modern figurative paintings that draw from life experiences. The Bledsoes from the now-defunct Deus Ex Machina gallery will show their latest paintings. Obliq gallery is open from 5 to 8 p.m.

1. Existence and Resistance @ The Hive
Lynette Haozous, Randy Barton, Thomas Breeze Marcus, and Thomas Greyeyes come from very different arts backgrounds and media, but they all share ties to the same culture and tradition. The four Native artists discuss indigenous spiritualism, philosophy, creativity, expressionism, activism and the quest for constant growth through their work, which will be on view tonight at The Hive.

Their work addresses misperception, commoditization, and resistance of Native culture, as well as the richness of tradition and background from which each is from. The Hive will be open tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.